League of Legends prepares for season 9 with balancing update – 8.24b Patch Notes
Riot GamesA mini pre-season update, 8.24b has been released ahead of season 9 in League of Legends, bringing a handful of balancing changes.
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Dubbed as ‘not-technically-a-patch’, 8.24b doesn’t include any new skins or features, rather only “one more round of balance changes to stuff your stockings with.”
The headline changes are to Pyke and Akali, with both receiving more significant changes, but no download will be needed as it is just a hotfix.
Reminder. 8.24b, our holiday patch, will be shipping later today unless we run into any issues. You won't need to download anything when it's out since we're shipping it like one big hotfix. Just a heads up that forbidden idol items won't have updated tool tips, but are buffed! pic.twitter.com/fCNOfQ0DxR
— Richard Henkel (@RiotMapleNectar) December 17, 2018
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The full 9.1 patch notes have already been released, accidentally leaked by Riot on December 14, so players know what to anticipate when it drops in January.
For now, this mini-update will tide everyone over until the new season, and sort out any issues arising from the 8.24 update.
Check out the full 8.24b patch notes for hero changes below.
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Akali
Akali can be more effectively counterattacked when revealing herself from Shroud. 8.24 shroud duration nerf reverted.
Our goal this patch is to give enemies a real chance of throwing a counterpunch when Akali emerges to strike, rather than waiting Shroud out from a safe distance. They’ll still need quick fingers and a clear plan, but they won’t be left without options. Targeted abilities still complete when Akali re-stealths mid-cast, skillshots are easier to aim, and basic attackers have slightly longer to get a hit off before she becomes unselectable. With the increased danger Akali faces when un-stealthing, we’re reverting 8.24’s Shroud duration nerf since enemies now have better means of fighting back.
W – Twilight Shroud
(NEW) PRESTEALTH: Akali now briefly obscures (opponents can see her outline but not target her) before stealthing or re-stealthing even if enemies don’t have true sight in the area
(NEW) FOLLOWTHROUGH: Targeted abilities and uncancellable basic attacks (ex. Nasus’s Q – Siphoning Strike are no longer canceled when Akali stealths or re-stealths
RE-STEALTH TIMING: 0.9/0.8/0.725/0.625 seconds at levels 1/6/9/12 ⇒ 1/0.9/0.825/0.725/0.625 seconds at 1/8/11/20/30 minutes
REVERTED: 8.24’s nerf has been reverted in favor of the above changes. Duration restored to 4/4.5/5/5.5/6 seconds (max 2 second extension)⇒ 5/5.5/6/6.5/7 seconds (max 3 second extension).
Pyke
Magic resist growth decreased. Q deals less passthrough damage to minions and monsters. R execute threshold decreased late.
League’s assassin support has become a problematic mid laner despite relatively reasonable performances in bot lane. The nerfs below are all tailored to hit mid Pyke hardest, whether by the strengths mid laners need (protection against burst magic damage; waveclear) or by the strengths Pyke has an easier time accruing in mid (level scalings).
Base Stats
MAGIC RESIST GROWTH: 2 ⇒ 1.5
Q – Bone Skewer
MINION & MONSTER DAMAGE: 50% to secondary targets ⇒ 30% to secondary targets (tooltip will be updated in 9.1)
R – Death From Below
Reminder: Enemies above the execute threshold take physical damage equal to the threshold instead.
EXECUTE THRESHOLD, LV 6-9250/290/330/370 (unchanged)
EXECUTE THRESHOLD, LV 10-13410/450/475/500 ⇒ 400/430/450/470
EXECUTE THRESHOLD, LV 14-18525/550/575/590/605 ⇒ 490/510/530/540/550
Simple Buffs
Caitlyn
Q base damage increased; passthrough damage decreased. R range increased.
We’re giving Caitlyn some lane power in Piltover Peacemaker’s first hit and punching up the unique strength Ace in the Hole brings to the Sheriff’s arsenal.
Q – Piltover Peacemaker
BASE DAMAGE: 30/70/110/150/190 ⇒ 50/90/130/170/210
RATIO: 1.3/1.4/1.5/1.6/1.7 total attack damage (unchanged)
PASSTHROUGH DAMAGE: 67% ⇒ 60%
R – Ace in the Hole
RANGE: 2000/2500/3000 ⇒ 3500 at all ranks
Corki
R damage increased.
Upping Corki’s poke damage.
R – Missile Barrage
BASE DAMAGE: 75/100/125 ⇒ 90/115/140
THE BIG ONE BASE DAMAGE: 150/200/250 ⇒ 180/230/280
Singed
Base health increased. Fling damage increased early.
These changes help Singed compete for presence in his early lane.
Base Stats
BASE HEALTH: 580 ⇒ 610
E – Fling
DAMAGE: 4/5/6/7/8% target’s maximum health ⇒ 6/6.5/7/7.5/8% target’s maximum health
Tristana
E damage increased.
Improving Tristana’s ability to blow people up in the mid-game.
E – Explosive Charge
BASE DAMAGE: 60/70/80/90/100 ⇒ 70/80/90/100/110RATIO0.5/0.65/0.8/0.95/1.1 bonus attack damage ⇒ 0.5/0.7/0.9/1.1/1.3 bonus attack damage
MAXIMUM DAMAGE: 132/154/176/198/220 (+1.1/1.43/1.76/2.09/2.42 bonus attack damage) ⇒ 154/176/198/220/242 (+1.1/1.54/1.98/2.42/2.86 bonus attack damage)
Varus
W-empowered Q damage increased late. R damage increased early.
Upping Varus’ strength as he hits his early- and mid-game spikes.
W – Blighted Quiver
UNCHARGED ACTIVE DAMAGE: 6/7/8/9/10% target’s missing health (levels 1/4/7/10/13) ⇒ 6/8/10/12/14% target’s missing health (levels 1/4/7/10/13)
FULLY CHARGED ACTIVE DAMAGE: 9/10.5/12/13.5/15% target’s missing health (levels 1/4/7/10/13) ⇒ 9/12/15/18/21% target’s missing health (levels 1/4/7/10/13)
R – Chain of Corruption
DAMAGE: 100/175/250 (+1.0 ability power) ⇒ 150/200/250 (+1.0 ability power)
Warwick
Base AD increased.
Giving Warwick a bit more bite.
Base Stats
BASE ATTACK DAMAGE: 63 ⇒ 65
Forbidden Idol Line
Forbidden Idol cooldown reduction increased. Heal and shield power increased on its upgrades.
Earlier in the season, enchanters were outperforming their mage and tank support counterparts so we nerfed the Idol line and the duration of individual shield abilities. Since then, the tables have turned and enchanters are the ones struggling to make an impact even in a damage-heavy meta where their talents could be put to good use. We’re reverting near-half of our earlier pass by restoring the majority of the Idol line’s strength, with the shield duration nerfs ensuring larger shields are still fairer to play against.
Forbidden Idol
COOLDOWN REDUCTION: 5% ⇒ 10%
Ardent Censer
HEAL AND SHIELD POWER: 8% ⇒ 10%
Mikael’s Crucible
HEAL AND SHIELD POWER: 15% ⇒ 20%
Redemption
HEAL AND SHIELD POWER: 8% ⇒ 10%
Known Bug – In-game tooltips won’t reflect the change but it’s just the tooltips! Rest assured, your heals and shields will be larger!
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Simple Nerfs
Alistar
Trample damage decreased early.
Reducing Alistar’s early lane pressure so one good trade doesn’t auto-win him the rest of lane phase.
E – Trample
BASE DAMAGE: 100/125/150/175/200 over 5 seconds ⇒ 80/110/140/170/200 over 5 seconds
EMPOWERED ATTACK BONUS DAMAGE: 55-310 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 35-290 (levels 1-18)
Cassiopeia
Q damage decreased late; cost increased late.
We’re bringing Noxious Blast’s high-rank power down, based on Q-max’s emergence as a dominant strategy.
Q – Noxious Blast
COST: 50/55/60/65/70 mana ⇒ 50/60/70/80/90 mana
BASE DAMAGE: 75/125/175/225/275 ⇒ 75/120/165/210/255
Kassadin
Health regen reduced.
Tying Kassadin’s early-game survivability more tightly to his Q shield.
Base stats
BASE HEALTH REGEN: 8 ⇒ 6
Neeko
Q damage decreased.
Neeko’s strength has moved toward healthy levels as players grow accustomed to the mind games her passive and W create. A small reduction to her early-game pushing and lane control is about all she needs right now; we’ll continue monitoring how she settles in over the holidays.
Q – Blooming Burst
INITIAL BASE DAMAGE: 80/125/170/215/260 ⇒ 70/115/160/205/250
BASE BOUNCE DAMAGE: 40/60/80/100/120 ⇒ 35/55/75/95/115
Tiamat
Cost increased.
We’re increasing the investment required to grab Tiamat’s dueling and waveclear benefits for champions who plan to sit on it rather than quickly upgrading to a Hydra.
COST: 1200 gold ⇒ 1325 gold
UPGRADES: Ravenous Hydra and Titanic Hydra cost 125 less gold to upgrade; total costs unchanged
Zeke’s Convergence
Ally basic attack burn reduced.
We’re bringing down Zeke’s’ offensive capabilities so other tank support items can be considered.
CONDUIT: Your linked ally’s basic attacks burn enemies for 50% ⇒ 30% bonus magic damage over 2 seconds
Outer Turrets
Turret plating’s done its job of extending lane phase for cases where teams burn down turrets as quickly as possible. In less violent lanes, though, outer turrets fall too easily once plating falls off. They’ll now keep the baseline resistances they have at game start, with plating falloff only removing the extra resistances granted by broken plates.
ARMOR AND MAGIC RESIST AFTER PLATING FALLOFF: 0 ⇒ 40
